Asylum seekers: A boat with 65 people from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar was intercepted by Australian authorities last month and sent back to Indonesia.

A boat with 65 people from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar seeking asylum in New Zealand was intercepted by Australian authorities last month and sent back to Indonesia.

The police chief from the Indonesian island of Rote, where the asylum seekers swum ashore after their boat hit rocks, said the six crew had told him Australian authorities had paid them US$5000 each, as reported by Fairfax Media yesterday.

Bangladeshi asylum seeker Nazmul Hassan, who said he saw the captain put money in his pocket.

In Canberra, the Greens and Labor parties have demanded more information about the payments, saying the immigration department was "cloaked in secrecy" and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton needed to adequately respond to the allegations.

The crew members are now being detained on the island while their people smuggling charges are being processed.

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Ronaldzi Agus, a spokesman for the East Nusa Tenggara provincial police office, told Fairfax Media that three AFP officers from Denpasar would visit Rote on Thursday.

Mr Agus said AFP officers regularly visited nearby Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara, to share information on people smuggling.

Asked if the visit to Rote was related to the arrest of the six crew members on people smuggling charges, Mr Agus said: "it looks like that".

Mr Agus said he did not know whether the AFP would investigate the claims the crew were paid by Australian authorities.

"[This is] effectively putting Australia in the people smuggling business," he said.

"We have a cloak of secrecy when it comes to the issue of refugees. And the reason that the secrecy has to be maintained is that the policy is morally reprehensible."

Labor's Immigration Spokesman Richard Marles said Immigration Minister Peter Dutton owed the Australian public an explanation, saying it was another example of the government's "woeful track record when it comes to transparency".

"We have seen this report and note the Government has denied it," he said.

"Rather than provide a one word response, Mr Dutton owes it to Australians to offer a proper explanation of what exactly has taken place in this operation."

A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said: "We have nothing further to add."

An AFP spokesman said: "The Australian Federal Police works cooperatively with the Indonesian National Police on a range of transnational crime issues, including people smuggling."